Nouvelles

Sparking new ideas and fostering entrepreneurship

Meet Western Newfoundland's entrepreneurship centre, Navigate at Memorial University's (MUN) Grenfell Campus. Since its opening in 2004 (formerly known as Gateway West) it has supported more than 80 businesses in Western Newfoundland and beyond and served almost 250 clients.

Navigate builds relationships with clients, partners and organizations, paving the way for tomorrow’s entrepreneurs, giving assistance in business and financial planning, market research as well as networking and mentoring opportunities.

Navigate also connects MUN's Grenfell campus and the College of the North Atlantic's (CNA) Corner Brook campus, its manager Sean St. George works out of both locations and both places offer office space for entrepreneurs for meetings, use office equipment and have access to mentors.

Going forward, thanks to the new partnership with the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship, Navigates student-clients now have the opportunity to access services through the Memorial Centre for Entrepreneurship and new entrepreneurs may be eligible for funding and subsidies. Navigate has also recently begun working with Futurpreneur Canada, a non-profit organization that provides ﬁnancing, mentoring and support tools to aspiring business owners aged 18-39.

The funding for Navigate comes from different partners, the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), Newfoundland's and Labrador's Departments of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation and Advanced Education, Skills and Labour and Grenfell Campus and the College of the North Atlantic-Corner Brook Campus.